The nation’s first artificial intelligence (AI) academy was yesterday inaugurated at Academia Sinica in Taipei, drawing 530 students and donations totaling NT$150 million (US$5.15 million) from five businesses for its first semester.
The academy incorporates two 12-week courses: a skills training program and a weekend program for business managers, academy chief executive officer Chen Sheng-wei (陳昇瑋) said at the ceremony.
After reviewing 900 applications, the academy admitted 210 students for the skills training program and 320 for the management program, Chen said, adding that the applicants were primarily from the electronics, manufacturing, information technology, finance and biomedicine sectors.
Photo: CNA
Students would be allowed to use nine laboratories equipped with a total of 240 graphics processing units at the academy’s temporary location at Academia Sinica, he said.
The academy is preparing additional campuses in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, which are expected to teach a total of about 7,500 people per year, he added.
The academy was organized by the Taiwan Data Science Foundation and the preparatory office of the Technological Environment Development Foundation (科技生態發展公益基金會).
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Office head Wei Chi-lin (魏啟林) received NT$30 million in donations each from five businesses: Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Chi Mei Corp (奇美實業), Inventec Corp (英業達), Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科).
The nation last year began promoting AI, while this year is the time to turn notions into actions, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) on Thursday said the nation has over the past two decades become disoriented as Internet technology has replaced PCs as the driving market force, Chen Liang-gee said, referring to Chang’s remarks at the Executive Yuan’s Board of Science and Technology meeting.
“Taiwan cannot again lose the battle” in AI development, he quoted Chang as saying.
The academy offers a great opportunity for people who aspire to learn AI applications, but do not know where to start, said academy student Cheng Yi-hsuan (鄭憶萱), a software engineer at Simware Inc (鑫威資訊).
She looks forward to boosting her efficiency in analyzing big data, Cheng said, adding that she feels inspired, rather than threatened, by the potential of AI.
The first graduation ceremony is to take place on April 28.
The academy yesterday began taking applications for the second semester and is to accept applications until March 27.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting